JOSEPH CHANG

Percussionist | Composer | Researcher

Vanier Scholar, Doctoral Candidate
Schulich School of Music, McGill University

Photo: Tam Photography.

About

Intersecting Percussion and Digital Media

I am a percussionist, interdisciplinary researcher, and composer interested in bridging between percussion, digital games, and Iannis Xenakis. My projects intersect between performance, music theory, digital archaeology, and signal processing.

Through my doctoral research, I analyze synthesized percussion sounds from the Nintendo Entertainment System to understand the development of percussion orchestration in early video game music. Learning from early composers' intentions in orchestration through seminal games, I reorchestrate and perform representative soundtracks using an acoustic percussion ensemble.

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Percussionist and Artistic Director

Percussionist in the 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Artistic director for Critical Beats! A percussion sextet performing works from and inspired by video games.

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Music Researcher

Theoretical and signal-level analysis pertaining to Iannis Xenakis, digital media, and acoustic percussion instruments.

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Composer

Original compositions inspired by and written for video games.

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Education

DMus, McGill University, Montreal
MM, California State University, Long Beach
BMus, McGill University, Montreal.

Joseph Chang
Portfolio

Click on any image to access materials via hyperlink

Music & Audio

Here are some of my selected compositions, arrangements, and sound design works.

Elements of Adventure - V. Running
Critical Danger (Boss Theme GDM)

Written for GameDev McGill's Blue Sea Redemption

Ocean and Me

Written for GameDev McGill's Blue Sea Redemption

Agnus Colony (from Xenoblade Chronicles 3)

Transcribed on Musescore 4.5.

Get In Touch

For potential collaborations, please feel free to reach out.
I look forward to hearing from you!

Let's Connect